KARACHI: High poverty levels, water scarcity, depleting forests and climate change are some of the many serious challenges Pakistan face today. It’s time that Pakistani citizens think and act responsibly for future and elect leaders who are committed to building a future where clean air and water, livelihood opportunities, adequate nutrition, among other necessities, are provided for everyone across the country.

This was stated by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) on Saturday as the country heads for elections on July 25.

“Pakistan ranked 147th out of 188 on the Human Development Index in 2016 and 106th among 119 developing countries in the Global Hunger Index last year. With an annual per capita availability of water at around 1,000 cubic metres, Pakistan is fast becoming a water scarce country.

“Pakistan has one of the lowest forest covers and one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. In addition, climate change impacts, such as the recent melting of a glacier in Ghizer district in Gilgit-Baltistan that has damaged infrastructure and rendered many families insecure, exacerbate these issues,” the press release said.

It also referred to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving Agenda 2030 and stated that there could be no integrated sustainable development without healthy ecosystems, which could be measured by the richness of biodiversity and various other indicators outlined for the SDGs.

Most of the 17 SDGs, it said, were directly or indirectly linked to environmental sustainability, particularly those that addressed poverty, hunger, health and well-being, water and sanitation, clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, and life on land.

“Unfortunately, Pakistan’s performance on these goals is comparatively low. The organisation urges all citizens, those working in the public and private sectors, civil society organisations, academia, and others to take collective action aimed at bringing together the agendas for sustainable development, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity conservation,” it said.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2018